Apparatus for the treatment of flour, semolina, and the like.



P. H. LORING.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT 0F PLOUR, SEMOLINA, AND THB'LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 13, 1911.

Patented July 9,1912.

COLUMBIA PLANDURAPH C0., WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE.

i FREDERICK HENRY LORING, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR `THE TREATMENT QF FLOUR, SEMOLINA, AND 'lI-IE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9., 1912.

yl Application alea March 13, 1911. serial No. 614,159.

To all fr0/wm z5 may concern.'

Be it known that I, FREDERICK HENRY LoIuNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at London, England, have invented a new and useful Improved Apparatus for the Treatment of Flour, Semolina, and the Like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the treatment of flour, semolina and thelike with liquids or other reagents in a fine state of subdivision,

adhering thereto and thus require constant` cleaning, so that there is considerable ditliculty in maintaining constant the rate at which the liquid is introduced into the flour,

'semolina or the like, the uniformity of treatment is impaired and loss is caused by having to interrupt the operation from time to time. According to the present invention, in order to obviate these disadvantages, the

liquid or other reagent is applied to the exterior surface of 'a rapidly rotating body, e. g., a cylinder, disk or other suitably shaped body, so as to be thrown off by centrifugalv force in the form of a spray, mist or other form of cloud, through which the flour, semolina or the like is allowed to fall in a shower, so as either to come into contact or not with the surface of said rotating body. The liquid is applied to said exterior surface of the rotating body-in such a manner that the orice through which it issues is arranged in a space which is free or substantially freefrom flour, for example, the rotating body is made hollow with part of its peripheral wall made of porous material, the liquid or reagent being allowed to run into the interior thereof and pass to the exterior surface through the said porous material; or the said body may be arranged to rotate with the part on one side of its axis in a space through which the flour, semolina ,orthe like is allowed to fall and with the part on another side of its axis in a space partitioned off from the former space and having the feeding device for the liquid or other reagent arranged therein.

By my improvements, the rot-ating body remains clean, since any particles of our or semolina that may impinge thereon are thrown off again by centrifugal force, and the orice through which the reagent passes to said rotating body remains unobstructed, so that the apparatus can work eiiiciently for long periods without requiring the work to be interrupted for cleaning, etc.

The flour, semolina or the like, passing in the form of a shower through the cloud or the like produced as above set forth, is

preferably subjected simultaneously to the action of cold, for example, it is cooled 'by means of air from a refrigerat-ing plant, whereby the cloud of reagent through which the shower of flour, semolina or the like falls, when such reagent consists of water or other liquid, will contain particles of frozen liquid.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows one form of my improved apparatus in central vertical section, and F i 2 is a similar view illustrating a modilIed con'- struction. f

The apparatus shown in Fig. l, which is intended for the treatment of semolina only,y

comprises a rotating hollow cylinder a,

which is constructed of suitable non-oxidizing material and arranged to be driven at Va high speedfor example, at a peripheral speed of three miles per minute. The semolina is brought into contact with the cylinder by a shaking sieve b, the semolina being delivered thereto through the spout c. An over-flow at' d is provided, so that an excess of semolina would tail over and prevent the machine blocking. The cylinder is moistenedby the trough@ shown in crosssection, which is fed by means'of a suit-able pump j", that draws its supply from the reservoir g and delivers it through pipes It, 7L, and an elongated nozzle z'. The llquid ows over the lip of the trough e and some excess is thrown olf from the cylinder, as indicated by the tangent arrows.- The tine bristle-brush j is driven independently in the direction indicated, and removes a Vfurther-excess of liquid. Behind the brush is an elongated airnozzle 7c, which equalizes the Hlm and removes droplets. Some of the thrcwsfctf liquid. is Caught in the elongated.

cup l. The roller has now a moist film on it,

as it passes under Ya`stationary `or 'travelingv band of rubber m, which catches any spray that may form intol ten the semolina. The semolina is' thrown oil the 'cylinder at n, having been slightly moistened lby contact with the wet cylinder revolving in the direction indicated. .prevent any flour, which always accompatries an elongated mozle yfo is provided. 'Only ia gentle blast 'of a'ir issues from the slot p.

A concrete or rubber Vfoundation g -is pro-` vided l'for ithe feast-iron base-plate r 'of 'the 'machine It will fbe-seen that fthe semolina fcoines iin :contact with a cool surface, and

on a vertical axis, -althoug'h obviously, such r`mounting is not necessary tothe invention,

and the liquid edfon fthe inside. YI't will bei I two designs, althoug'h` quitedii'fe'rerit i'nlappearance, tare capable ot being operated in the same way, and involveg the same principle :in dealingnwith the liq-` 1 yterior peripheral surface of the :said im'emapparent that the nids by means fdf 'centrifugal force.

Instead Vof l'a shaking sieve, `as in fFig. 1, 'the flour 'or semolina 'is 4'caused itodescend through a sieve a forming the bottomof a lcircular trough '7)'. '(blades) 4and brushes o and fl respectively, insure ia thorough passage and a good 'dis-p Revolving sweepers 'tribution of the fmaterial. The mechanical arrangements arels'how-n in some detail, fbu't they may be modified considerably. The

vwith dusttight joints f', the 1former in turn ported iby fia'nged -v'vvheels h running ion a circular track e" fand driven by a `'smaller A similar arrangement de-' ilivers the 'material 'from la' circular V"trough k into the exit spout Z. The cylinder m `is 'provided Lwith 'perforations or frectangular "openings -into which eltorsuitable porousv plugs or pads a are itted. These plugs ror pads are :so made as to retain their `shape when 4subjected to "considerable `ceiitrifugal ffor'ce.. Water issuppliedtothe 'interior of the cylinder'fm fbya spout s.

Additional 'absorbent material fo" is indrops 'and lunduly 'mois- ToA the semolina toa slight extent, from" being carried @into the part dif the fmachine where the liquid is `applied to the cylinder,

well as at other parts of the machine, the .ditferentsections of Ythelatter are made separable along the planes X-X and Y-Y, :the said sections Abeingsupported externally by a cast-iron frame, not shown.

Inasmuch as both of the above machines operate as cooling devices, owing to the'lowering ott the temperature due to the excessive evaporation, further cooling of the solutions is not always necessary, `but-the ap Yplication of vartificial cold tofthe solutions, or the products Sthrown oii lby centrifugal force, :may be resorted V4to -in"some cases with considerable advantage. Even the illour or semolina may be cooled bythe direct applilcation of icold `air or Vchilled vsuri'aces Sin a suitable agitator, or other machine, in which the flour or like material tumtilesabout.

Gold air can be introduced into 'the cen-V triifugal machines, preferably 'through the 1 piper', Fig..2,ornezfzlefo, Fig. 1. In some cases fine snow iis produced, which passing into the flour assists in cooling it.

fllt is amatter'ofzexperiment orthezmiller to determine the `quantities of any :liquid `or -reagent desirable lin a given 'batch `off flour, and `t-he extent to which `the i'co'oling lof the products should be carried .fis also best determined by the usual tests on .the fini-shed Hour.

l. Apparatus for fthe treat-ment oi 4cereal @milling products, t"comprising ya :rotary intemloer,1'means it'or ldelivering; a liquid 'to the'ex- 00 fber, imeans for distributing the fmateri'al to 1 be ftreated in a 'showerjpassing `:in :proximity to the'saidsurface and means A'for rotating 4said 4member :at a :high speed.

.2. Apparatus 'forathefftreatment "of cereal 105 milling products, :comprising ra :rotary member, means 'for deliveringfa'liquid tothe eri-v 'terior peripheral surface Aof the said member, means 'for 'distributing the zmaterial Eto be Vtreatedin ya fshower passing in 'proximity 110 to'the said surrface,andmeans itor=delivering :cold air into the `space through 'which ithe said material 'thus descends.

Apparatus :for .the treatment 'iot cereal' millingiproducts, 'comprising twofchambers, 115

a rotary `member 'forming partiof the ipart-i- 'tion between said chambers, imeans .arranged in one chamber fordelivering a liquidftwthe exterior peripheral :surface Aof .said rotaryv member,11neans forfdistrib'utingithe material 120 to be treated in .fa :shower 'passing through =the other chamber, and :means for .rotating said grotary member at valhigihfspe'ed.

4. Apparatus forlthetreatment otcereal milling products, r 'said'apparatus r comprising 125 a iframe, 1a Lsieve mounted in said ii-ame, vmeans for delivering the lmilling products 4onto said sieve, means vfor distributing said eprodu'cts over said lsieve, fa rotary @memberv` "mountedinisaid iframeandhaving 1a periph- 13o eral surface adjacent to and at a lower level than said sieve, means for delivering a liquid to said peripheral surface, and means for rotating said rotary member at a high speed.

5. Apparatus for the treatment of cereal milling products, said apparatus comprising a sieve, means for delivering the milling products onto said sieve, means for distributing said products over said sieve, a rotary member having a peri heral surface adjacent to and at a lower liavel than said sieve, means for delivering a liquid to said peripheral surface, and means for cooling the air in the space below said sieve through which said milling products descend.

6. Apparatus for the treatment of cereal milling products, said apparatus comprising means for bringing said products into the form of a shower, a hollow rotary member having a peripheral surface adjacent to the space in which said shower is produced,

porous material in the peripheral wall loit' said rotary member, means for supplying a liquid to the interior of said rotary member, and means for rotating said member at a high speed.

7. An apparatus for the treatment of cereal milling products, said apparatus comprising a sieve, means for delivering said products onto said sieve, means for distributing said products over said sieve, a hollow rotary member having a peripheral surface adjacent to and at a lower level than said sieve, porous material in the peripheral wall of said rotary member, means for supplying 35 a liquid to the interior space of said rotary member, and means for rotating said member at a high speed.

FREDERICK HENRY LORING. l/Vit-nesses JOHN THOMAS KNowLEs, THOMAS ALFRED BAILEY.

Copies of thisppatent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

